Oniomania

My daughter told me she has just been diagnosed with oniomania. What in the world is that? She was rather vague.

Oniomania is a medical term for an addictive, obsessive disorder that involves a need to buy things. Another name for oniomania is compulsive buying. It is a disorder that has begun to receive more attention from researchers in recent years. Estimates are that this disorder affects up to 8% of the general adult population in the US. About 90% of those affected are female. Onset occurs in the late teens or early twenties, and the disorder is generally chronic. There is window shopping and there is compulsive shopping where the individual purchases something due to a compulsion to “buy something” whether or not the person needs the item. Comorbidity is frequent, particularly mood, anxiety, substance use, eating and personality disorders. Treatment may involve individual and group psychodynamic psychotherapy, cognitive-behavioral therapy and 12-step programs.